Into the Woods

As You Like It –  Eclectic Full Contact Theatre

Shakespeare’s sweet, pastoral comedy, thought to have been written around 1599, is one of his more frequently performed plays and an audience favorite among professional, regional and educational theatres, alike. The story has even been adapted for radio, film and the musical stage. It boasts a large cast of memorable characters, all of whom spend most of their time roaming through the forest and farming community and pining for love.

The reversals of gender in this play have always intrigued critics and scholars. In Shakespeare’s time, Rosalind would’ve been played by a young male. As the story unfolds, the character disguises herself as a man named Ganymede. However, in a couple of scenes, she pretends to be Rosalind so that Orlando, who’s usually portrayed by a man, can rehearse romancing her. So we have a man playing a woman playing a man who’s pretending to be a woman. A little confusing, to say the least. 

Nowadays, the role of Rosalind is most often played by an actress, as she is in this production. But, director Katherine Slegel has elected to employ some of her own additional gender reversals. She’s cast a very talented young actress to play Orlando, one of Chicago’s most gifted, popular and likable transgender actresses to portray Duke Senior, and females to play both the melancholy fool, Jacques, and the dual roles of Corin/Hymen. Sometimes these casting choices work well, but by keeping Shakespeare’s pronouns the same, when referencing these characters, audiences unfamiliar with Slegel’s casting changes may become confused.

The comedy is a series of stories that involve a large cast of different characters. Power hungry tyrant, Duke Frederick, has taken over the entire duchy and exiled his kind, benevolent brother, Duke Senior, to the Forest of Arden. Frederick has reluctantly allowed his niece Rosalind, the banished Duke’s daughter, to remain at court because she and his daughter, Celia, are inseparable. However, Frederick’s paranoid and imagines some kind of conspiracy at work, so he decides to banish Rosalind, as well.

 Given little alternative, Rosalind chooses to flee from Frederick’s persecution, taking with her Celia, her cousin and best friend. They head to the Forest of Arden; but to play it safe, the ladies decide to disguise themselves. Rosalind butches it up in male drag, calling herself Ganymede; Celia choses to dress as a poor young woman, named Aliena. For extra protection, the two ladies also bring along Touchstone, Frederick’s witty court clown. Together the three refugees head out, looking for food and shelter in the woods.

Rosalind, Celia and Touchstone meet Corin, an impoverished shepherd, whose cottage the trio offer to buy. Coincidentally, Orlando, another young person in Frederick’s court, also finds himself in the Forest of Arden. He and Rosalind had met momentarily back at court and immediately fell in love. But Orlando has another fallout with his jealous, older brother, Oliver, who’s now under the thumb of Duke Frederick. To escape his brother’s unwarranted anger, Orlando takes his elderly servant Adam and also flees to the Forest of Arden. There he’s reunited with the exiled Duke Senior, the Duke’s melancholy traveling companion, Jacques, and a few other friends from the court.

When Rosalind (disguised as Ganymede) runs into Orlando in the forest, she finds him posting love poems on the trees. She pretends to counsel him in his love for Rosalind. In order to school the young man in how to properly woo and win his lady love, Ganymede, ironically, plays Rosalind, so that Orlando can practice on him. While playing Rosalind, young shepherdess Phoebe, who’s adored by farmer Silvius, spies Ganymede and immediately falls madly in love with him. To complicate the plot even more, we discover another shepherd named William, who adores a country girl named Audrey; but Audrey runs into Touchstone and is smitten by him. Through all these complications and plot twists, Shakespeare contrives a happy-ever-ending that pleases everyone.

Shakespeare’s plays are very long, partly because the Bard wanted to provide a full afternoon’s entertainment for his Elizabethan audiences and to give them their money’s worth. Katherine Slegel’s production is also lengthy, although it could’ve been shortened considerably. She might’ve cut some of the dialogue or, in particular, all the songs that Shakespeare included in this script. As it now plays, this production runs three, long hours. Had the theatre choosen an earlier starting time it would’ve helped get theatergoers out and to their homes at a more reasonable hour. As it now plays, this production feels too talky and very long. 

Ms. Slegel’s cast is an ensemble of mixed talent. Shakespearean plays are all about the words, and if audiences can’t comprehend what an actor is saying it becomes an upward battle for the theatergoer. Also, unless an actor brings a sense of understanding to the Elizabethan prose and poetry, it’s becomes just words and sounds filling the air. Some of Ms. Slegel’s talented cast is accomplished in both. 

Beginning at the top, Honey West, in a brilliant bit of casting, is absolute perfection as the kindly Duke Senior. She’s warm, gentle, maternal and still delightfully droll, especially with Jacques. She easily elicits the audience’s sympathy because of the way her brother has treated her and her followers. And Oliver, beautifully played by David Gordon-Johnson, is a lesson in how to perfectly play a role in Shakespeare. This actor is strong, articulate, eloquent, focused and completely commands every one of his scenes. 

Both Megan Delay and Alice Wu, as Audrey and Phoebe, respectively, also demonstrate excellent command of the language and make these minor characters majorly engaging and delightfully humorous. Therese Young’s Corin is another example of a trained actor who understands precisely what she’s saying. She also speaks with a lovely resonance that carries well in the space. Christopher Sylvie’s Silvius is handsome, charismatic and quite funny. Sylvie’s got a real command of language and knows how to tell this shepherd’s story. Jessica L. Fisher is both passionate in her portrayal and well-spoken as Celia. And although he’s equally eloquent, Nick Dorado, whose beautiful speaking voice is almost melodic, makes the mistake of shouting too many of his lines, as Duke Frederick, to be fully appreciated.  

Generally, Aja Singletary’s Orlando is pretty good. She performs the role, not as a woman playing a man, but as herself. And that proves to be quite enough. While Ms. Singletary does quite well with the Elizabethan prose and poetry, every so often it feels like she’s forgotten the subtext of what she’s saying and has become lost in the sound and rhythm. This could be said of Chloe Baldwin’s Rosalind, as well. She’s more secure and convincing when playing Ganymede, but in the earlier scenes at court, Ms. Baldwin sometimes becomes shrill, out of control and difficult to understand. Clearly she has her lines down pat, but whether she always fully comprehends what she’s saying is debatable. The audience may have some problems.

Jacques, as played by Laura Carney, seems totally lost in her own ennui. The character’s gloominess seems to cause the actress to lose precision with her words or to fully convey the meaning behind what she’s saying. To Ms. Carney’s credit, her delivery of her “All the world’s a stage,” or “the seven ages of man” monologue, is performed very well.

Katherine Slegel has staged her large cast to use the entire venue, including the central aisle and the space behind the stage seating. Rachel Lake’s lighting design is serviceable, but sometimes is too dim to fully illuminate the actors. There are some dark areas of which the cast should be more aware. Cathy Tantillo’s costumes are interesting, using a black and white palette at the court and a more colorful, 70’s hippie inspiration for the Forest of Arden characters. Jeremy Hollis’ sparse scenic design features a floor of ground up material, to represent dirt, and a suggestion of a forest, using colored lights to highlight the trees.

Katherine Slegel’s production, while it could’ve used some trimming, takes audiences into the woods. She offers gender fluidity in a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s popular, world-famous love story, performed by a company of some excellent actors. Not every member of the cast is successful with Shakespeare’s dialogue, but those who’ve mastered this skill truly stand out. There may not be a better opportunity than Eclectic Theatre’s production to experience this classic play so up close and personal.

Somewhat Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

     

Presented March 23-April 22 by Eclectic Full Contact Theatre at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport, Chicago.

Tickets are available at the box office, by calling 773-935-6875 or by going to www.Eclectic-Theatre.com.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.